PROVIDENCE, R.I. - State Rep. Doreen Costa, R-North Kingstown, says she is "offended" that Governor Chafee singled her out for blame for the Rhode Island GOP's gun raffle this weekend.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - State Rep. Doreen Costa, R-North Kingstown, says she is "offended" that Governor Chafee singled her out for blame for the Rhode Island GOP's gun raffle this weekend.

"The governor wants to hear from me so I'm responding,'' said Costa, who is the paid finance director for the state GOP.

"We have so many more pressing issues. Finger-pointing and calling me out to explain something I have nothing to do with is not productive to getting our state back on track economically," she said, in a statement issued by the House minority office.

"I want to know why the governor is focusing on a raffle when he should be focusing on putting people back to work, investigating 38 Studios, lowering taxes, building business-friendly legislation with the General Assembly and coming up with a game plan ... to help our state's low income residents who will be losing their benefits through WIC due to the Democratic U.S. Senate's refusal to negotiate,'' she said.

The Chafee press office did not respond to her statement, released on the day after the governor denounced as "tone deaf and inappropriate" the GOP's attempt to raise money by raffling guns, including Smith & Wesson's version of an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.

"He [Chafee] believes that she ought to be on the record, defending why this is appropriate because he does not think it is a good idea,'' Hunsinger said of Costa, who was one of four state Republican Party officials who signed an application to the state police to conduct the raffle. (It turned out no application was required, only notice to the state Lottery.)